Doctor Who Christmas special air date and time confirmed

Matt Smith's hour-long farewell episode will start at 7:30pm on Christmas Day, putting it up against Coronation Street on ITV

Ignore the clock in that first shot from the Doctor Who Christmas special – the Time of the Doctor is not midnight, but 7:30pm, on Christmas Day, Wednesday 25 December.

Matt Smith's farewell episode will be sandwiched between the Call the Midwife Christmas special and EastEnders on BBC1 and goes up against Coronation Street, which runs across the same hour – 7:30-8:30pm – over on ITV.

The Time of the Doctor will see Smith battling some of the Time Lord's deadliest enemies, including Daleks, Cybermen, Silents and Weeping Angels, before transforming into Peter Capaldi's new Doctor – presumably after first solving the problem of having run out of regenerations...